Protecting the Learned

Verse 1 (13.253.1)

कृपया परया प्रोक्तः सर्वेषां पापकर्मणाम् । ज्ञानस्य च परस्येह तन्मे ब्रूहि पितामह ॥

kṛpayā parayā proktaḥ sarveṣāṃ pāpakarmaṇām | jñānasya ca parasyeha tanme brūhi pitāmaha

Out of great compassion tell me, grandfather, what has been declared for all who do evil deeds, and the supreme knowledge here as well.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 1-2. Appendix I No. 17 follows No. 16 directly (the whole adhyaya is lines 1-23 of No. 17, after which the critical edition goes on to 13.135). The Appendix's first line is worded differently (ka upāyo varaprāptau sarveṣāṃ pāpakarmaṇām, "what is the means ... of all evildoers"); Wikisource has कृपया परया प्रोक्तः. The second line agrees.

Verse 2 (13.253.2)

उपायोऽयं परप्राप्तौ परमः परिकीर्तितः । नारायणस्यानुध्यानमर्चनं यजनं स्तुतिः ॥

upāyo'yaṃ paraprāptau paramaḥ parikīrtitaḥ | nārāyaṇasyānudhyānamarcanaṃ yajanaṃ stutiḥ

This has been declared the supreme means of reaching the Supreme: meditation on Narayana, worship of him, sacrifice to him and praise,

Note on the text: Corrected नारायणास्यानुध्यान → नारायणस्यानुध्यान (misprint in Wikisource; extra ा in नारायणास्य; the Appendix reads nārāyaṇasya). Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 3-4.

Verse 3 (13.253.3)

श्रवणं तत्कथानां च विद्वत्संरक्षणं तथा । विद्वच्छुश्रूषणप्रीतिरुपदेशानुपालनम् । स ध्यानेन जपेनाशु मुच्यते प्राकृतोपि वा ॥

śravaṇaṃ tatkathānāṃ ca vidvatsaṃrakṣaṇaṃ tathā | vidvacchuśrūṣaṇaprītirupadeśānupālanam | sa dhyānena japenāśu mucyate prākṛtopi vā

hearing his stories, protecting the learned, taking delight in serving the learned, and following their instruction. By meditation and japa a person is quickly freed, even an ordinary man.

Note on the text: Corrected जपेननाशु → जपेनाशु (misprint in Wikisource; doubled न; the Appendix reads japenāśu). Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 5-7.

Verse 4 (13.253.4)

जपश्चतुर्विधः प्रोक्तो वैदिकस्तान्त्रिकोपि च । पौराणिकोथ विद्वद्भिः कथितः स्मार्त एव च ॥

japaścaturvidhaḥ prokto vaidikastāntrikopi ca | paurāṇikotha vidvadbhiḥ kathitaḥ smārta eva ca

Japa is declared fourfold: Vedic, Tantric, Puranic, as the learned say, and Smarta.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 8-9.

Verse 5 (13.253.5)

विद्वच्छुश्रूषया ज्ञानं विद्वत्संरक्षणेन च । नासाध्यं ज्ञानिनां किञ्चित्तस्माद्रक्ष्यास्त्वया द्विजाः ॥

vidvacchuśrūṣayā jñānaṃ vidvatsaṃrakṣaṇena ca | nāsādhyaṃ jñānināṃ kiñcittasmādrakṣyāstvayā dvijāḥ

Knowledge comes from serving the learned and from protecting them; nothing is beyond the reach of the wise. Therefore you should protect the brahmins.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 10-11.

Verse 6 (13.253.6)

सुव्रता बन्धुहीनैका वने पूर्वं यमेन तु । आसीदाश्वासिता विद्वत्संरक्षणफलात्किल ॥

suvratā bandhuhīnaikā vane pūrvaṃ yamena tu | āsīdāśvāsitā vidvatsaṃrakṣaṇaphalātkila

Long ago, in a forest, a woman of good vows, alone and without kin, was comforted by Yama, because of the fruit of protecting the learned.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 12-13.

Verse 7 (13.253.7)

विप्रस्य मरणे हेतुस्तत्पत्नी पितृशोकदा । वैश्या त्वमतिलाभोऽयं विप्रकन्येति साम्प्रतम् ॥

viprasya maraṇe hetustatpatnī pitṛśokadā | vaiśyā tvamatilābho'yaṃ viprakanyeti sāmpratam

A brahmin's death had her as its cause — his wife, who brought grief to her father. "You were a Vaishya woman; this is now your great gain: that you are a brahmin's daughter."

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 14-15. The sense of the verse is obscure (the Appendix has vaiśyā tvam abhilāṣeyaṃ, Wikisource वैश्या त्वमतिलाभोऽयं); the closing words read as Yama's to the woman, but no speaker change is marked, so it stays with the narrator.

Verse 8 (13.253.8)

इत्युक्ताऽऽश्वासिताऽपृच्छत्केनैवं पापसंयुता । जाता विप्रकुले सम्यक् श्रेयश्चापि ब्रवीहि मे ॥

ityuktā''śvāsitā'pṛcchatkenaivaṃ pāpasaṃyutā | jātā viprakule samyak śreyaścāpi bravīhi me

Thus comforted, she asked: "Why have I, burdened with sin, been born in a brahmin family? Tell me rightly, and tell me too what is good for me."

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 16-17.

Verse 9 (13.253.9)

अन्यजन्मनि विद्वांसं प्रहारैरभिपीडितम् । चोरशङ्काविमोक्षेण मोक्षयित्वा सुजन्मिका ॥

anyajanmani vidvāṃsaṃ prahārairabhipīḍitam | coraśaṅkāvimokṣeṇa mokṣayitvā sujanmikā

In another birth you rescued a learned man who was being beaten, by freeing him from the suspicion of theft; thereby you attained a good birth.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 18-19. Page heading यम उवाच; in the Appendix Yama's speech begins at this verse (label yamaḥ at line 17).

Verse 10 (13.253.10)

इत्युक्ताऽष्टाक्षरध्यानजपादिश्रेयसंयुता । यमेनानुगृहीताऽभूत्पुण्यलोकनिवासिनी ॥

ityuktā'ṣṭākṣaradhyānajapādiśreyasaṃyutā | yamenānugṛhītā'bhūtpuṇyalokanivāsinī

Thus addressed, she was endowed with the good that comes from meditation, recitation of the eight-syllabled mantra and the like, and, favoured by Yama, came to dwell in the world of the righteous.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 20-21. The page's Yama heading runs on from verse 9, but this verse speaks of Yama in the third person, so it is narration; given to Bhishma (an obviously wrong carry-over). The Appendix has no speaker change here.

Verse 11 (13.253.11)

तन्नित्यं विदुषां रक्षा तत्परोऽभूर्महीपते । तेषां संरक्षणात्सद्यः सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥

tannityaṃ viduṣāṃ rakṣā tatparo'bhūrmahīpate | teṣāṃ saṃrakṣaṇātsadyaḥ sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate

Therefore, O king, be always intent on protecting the learned; by protecting them one is quickly freed from all sins.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition proper (vulgate recension); parallel text in Appendix I No. 17 (after 13.134.57d), lines 22-23. Bhishma's closing exhortation to Yudhishthira ("O king"), not Yama's speech; the page's Yama heading is a carry-over. Wikisource reads तत्परोऽभूः and सद्यः where the Appendix has bhava and tuṣṭaḥ (variants, kept).